Prescription ophthalmic lenses for eyesight corrective glasses must be edged to specific measurements and shapes to mount in eyeglass frames. The eye care doctor or other professional eye wear dispenser selects the frames and lenses for each patient's optical needs. Most eye care professionals stock frames at their location from which the patient makes his or her choice. The eye care professional then ships the frames to an optical laboratory so the lenses can be shaped to fit the frames.
The method of this disclosure eliminates the need to ship eyeglass frames to a location where the lens edging will be performed, thus eliminating the cost of shipping the frames and the time delay factor in furnishing such frames to off-site optical laboratories.
Systems presently being manufactured and marketed require either (a) expensive "Auto Cad" installations at the eye care dispensing location and the employment of under-utilized, highly skilled technicians to operate such equipment or (b) installing manually operated or computerized frame tracing capabilities, lens edging equipment, waste product disposal facilities, enlarged production facilities, and additional personnel at each eyeglass dispensing location. The investment required for either of the above options is multi-thousand dollars at each location. Competition from major corporations with large capital resources that operate the "One Hour" full service optical laboratories and retail stores in all major shopping malls is forcing more and more eye care professionals to invest their limited resources in the above described equipment and services. This competitive race is not for the normal cost effective reasons that usually reduce costs, but for reasons that have actually increased the cost of eyewear. Expensive, under-utilized equipment and operating personnel, at multiple locations, is wasteful and counter productive. The result of this trend may deprive many people of good vision care and in some cases all vision care. The method of this disclosure requires no additional capital investment to the eyewear prescriber or dispenser. It will eliminate the need for future capital expenditures at their locations and can make obsolete many that are already in place. No technical skill beyond that which is normal and customary will be required at a professional eyewear dispenser's location.